Month: January 2015

What is a winner to a legend? What is a legend to a ring? This basketball game has been a learning experience for me and it continues to teach me brand new things about myself. Watching the professionals play and what the season comes down to is the finals. From their a champion is named and put in the record books for all eternity, sorta. You know I wanted to do something different with these list-post, keep it funky but also the winner/loser line is so definite. And I always had much love for the player that still gave a great effort. So this post is a top 5 list of my favorite players that never won a championship. These player are still great in my eye and this is my blog homage to these basketball players that were runner ups.

The game is rough and not everyone can take home a ring. I really don’t know what the NBA gives to the second place team. What ever the outcome is these players were still ring worthy. Win or lose there are great players on both ends. Let’s get started with the list.

5.Patrick Ewing-I was a little young watching Ewing. I remember watching him play before he actually retired and he was just this big guy that knew how to play the post. He was the big post man dominating the paint in New York. The Knicks would make the playoffs and Ewing was a monster giving his defender something to go up against. All the great teams have that one post player and Ewing was one of those great post players never to reach the title. When he hung up the jersey it was a bittersweet moment only because his efforts made all these other players great and yet he wasn’t able to carry that prestige stake in time. A timeless player to say the least.

4.Karl Malone/John Stockton-These guy come as a pair, the duo just worked super well with each other. Basketball is a team sport and that means team work. Karl Malone and John Stockton portrayed teamwork in their pick and roll. The Postman would set a screen just below the the three point line. Stockton would use the screen just as Malone opened up and went in for the basket, Stockton was an amazing passer and he would bounce pass it to Malone for an easy lay up. So simple and so classy the Utah Jazz was the team that gave Jordan a challenge. Time is an odd contraption but these guys were championship material. I remember rooting for these guys during the playoffs and their might have been frustration in the loss but now looking back the Jazz duo made the game exciting. They were the best contenders.

3.Anfernee Hardaway-Penny was slick and cool,I wanted to be Penny. He had great potential both for the Magics and the Suns. You know I wonder if he would have won a ring if Shaq had stayed in Orlando? There are so many players that can make that list and Hardaway was just an all-star. Penny could defend, he could dunk the ball and play the point. You know a lot of the players get older and can no longer play at that caliber they once did. Surgeries and injuries are something that players go through. Anfernee went through his basketball battles and he did retire eventually. I remember being all excited when he got traded to the Phoenix Suns. Having one of my all-time favorite players come to Arizona was music for my soul. Great player to have on your team.

2.Allen Iverson-The “Answer” was the name and this guy made the crowd go crazy. You know Iverson made an impact on the world. He was such a great player and was able to represent his brand. On and off the court Iverson had the attention of the people. Iverson was a superstar energizing the game, jersey number 3. He never won the championship but he did win several other prestigious awards in the NBA. What I remember most of Iverson was his ability to steal the ball. A great defender, the Answer would steal the ball and take off to the other end for the easy basket. He played the point and definitely was a player that needed to be watched. Bringing so much to the game I had to put him on the list. He is the Answer.

1.Reggie Miller-And last but not least. Watching Reggie Miller growing up I always saw him as the bad guy. He was always in the playoffs, a great defender and a even greater three point shooter. He was the ultimate opponent. Getting in the face of his defender, talking trash. He was such a bad ass. You know season after season Reggie was in the playoff causing a ruckus. With his skill and attitude Miller made the game exciting. When it came down to crunch time he was a player that could turn the game upside down. He hardly missed that three pointer of his and even with the defender all up in his face. All players must go up against the time, fourth quarter with just seconds left. The pressure builds and Reggie Miller could play excellent in that state of time. You know the determiner of the game is time, each one of these players deserves to hold their head up high. Win or lose the game always gives the players a great time to shine. Miller and the rest of the squad really brought that enthusiasm for the game. I mean everyone can be driven to win but these players just had a talent for the game. And it is the love for the game that keeps everything moving. Win or lose the next game will make everything better.

The sun was at it’s highest and my hunger was at it’s lowest. The drive-thru senario was not on my do-to list. I was in Tucson working and needed a place to eat lunch. Before I drive back to the Rez there is something I need to put in my belly. So I’m not always in the mood for the typical fast-food places these days. Maybe because of the drive-thru incident, the complex system of additions and special deals on new items on the menu. I just wanted something more not-so-complicated. I know there are places where I can eat and not be so apart of a commercial setting. Something low-key because my soul needed to breath.

On the out skirts of Tucson I pull over to the side of the road. There is a busy tire shop next a small taco stand. The trailer was run by two workers that seem to have a good rapport, there placed ivory old cafeteria benches under the blue ramada. The place was not super fancy and the waiter takes my order as she wipes down the two tables. Going back into the trailer she friendly yells the order over the radio playing. It felt nice to be outside in the cool weather and I was happy to find a great place to eat lunch.

You know what really grinds my gears are these drive thrus at these fast food places. The other week I was ordering food, I’m not going to say which place but I had placed my order through the intercom. I drove around to the window to pay. You know there several drive thrus and each one has their own routine. So I paid the cashier and drove off thinking that there was another window for food pick-up. But there is no other window. Just a beige wall. I stop, and I can’t go in reverse because the car behind has moved in closer to get his order. Semi-embarrassed I open my car door and walk to the window to get my bag of food. Storiesfrommystomach

The world is your oyster so they say, and the saying captures the essence of this post and the tale of my friend Linus. My old homie from high school drove his bicycle into Tucson from New Mexico. A three day trip on the road that was prelude to another great journey he was scheming in his head. He had a plan to ride into Mexico and eventually stop somewhere in South America.

He was living out in New Mexico and hadn’t been home on the Rez for awhile. Of course visiting but it was an epic return home when he came into town on his green bike with his belongs all tied down securely to the frame. He was preparing for an epic journey and to some degree we had no clear vision of where he was going when he left home again. I just knew he was going south and that was about it because Linus was still figuring it out. I just saw the determination and knew he was serious about exploring the land on his green cruiser.

Me and Linus back in our high schools years traded tips with the guitar and listened to Metal. Now all old in our late twenties, so much as changed since although things like the guitar and the excitement for life and music still keeps things the same. I don’t know if that makes sense but all this time has passed and everyone grows, the landscape sustain us in a way. I think the desert and the mountains are very much apart of us human beings; appreciating the overall experience of life on the planet is the greatest way to connect and feel truth within. The world can be such a small place if your limiting yourself to small ways of thinking.

I get a message from Linus…

The South America trip has been postponed. There was a brief moment where I wasn’t so sure what was going to happened about this epic bike ride he had been planning for months. We arrive to these moments in life when the road splits and you may need to take a new direction. Linus met a couple of bikers passing through Sells heading to San Diego and Baja. They invited him to join in on the their adventure out west. And then he was off.

I had forgotten this story and was reminded today by a good friend of mine who is starting their first semester at the University of Arizona. Ah spring…

That campus has become a monument of great memories. And yet during those times I was experiencing the world. Challenging myself and really going after something I had plenty of time to think about. The steps were being laid out for me and I really wanted to do that trail justice. I had been out of that university world for while. I did attend ASU for two semesters, so I did feel confident on my first day of classes at the UofA. I knew my way around town. No sweat.

I was transferring from my tribal college Tohono O’odham Community College. The campus at TOCC is not as big as UofA’s and it just has a different kind of spirit. The classes were really small and the instructor-student relationships were more on a face-to-face-basis. Meaning the conversations blended well with the lecture and overall made great discussion for class. TOCC rocks.

I did have some intimidating thoughts transferring. Fear is a complex campus. You know having those thoughts of feeling uncertain in life can never be bigger than the passion and dream. We face obstacles everyday but nothing is the way you expect it. Completing my bachelor’s was the dream. TOCC gave me that symbolic hand to the university life. The studies and the day-to-day process, all that good stuff. I was ready for what I had coming, it was my the first day at the UofA. Afternoon class.

I come to class early and it’s in this big auditorium. Three rows of seating, people already are picking their seats. Always awkward to find that seat. The class is bigger than I thought it would be. And then the professor arrives and starts to adjust the projector. Class starts and students already have their books out. I felt out of place and began to wonder if I had missed an email or even missed the class due to reading the wrong time on the schedule.

The instructor is giving their introduction and then I start to pull out my laptop. Go straight to my schedule and I have the time right. But…

I’m in the right class..right.

I immediately make sure I have the right classroom. I read the room number wrong when I first entered. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The building was correct and I still needed to find the right room. All I’m thinking about is making a bad impression showing up late on the first day of class.

I find the correct room and it’s barley starting. The instructor is running late herself and brushes off the time for stragglers. Their happy to start the semester and we begin class, the rest is history. Funny how you can be in the wrong place, at the same time still be in the best place because you know it’s right. I manage. Storiesfrommystomach.